Hi Darlene! I'm sure everyone and their brother's ferret will post about this, but my vet told me, and several articles I've read have said that human colds and flues can be transferred to ferrets and back to us again. With those nasty viruses flying, we have a strict rule in our house that anyone who wants to handle the fuzzies after being out in the big, bad world, must wash their hands first, and we avoid kissing the babies when we're sick (which is a bummer, cause everyone knows ferret kisses are the best medicine!). When our little one got her first cold (from us, cause we didn't know that we could give it to her), she was hacking and miserable. We took her to the vet - I think she gave us some antibiotics to make us feel better even if it wouldn't help against the virus. On the vet's recommendation we kept her warm, and gave her pedialite - I'm not sure how much though - you might want to ask your vet about that (our ferret likes the orange kind...:) ). She wouldn't even put her nose to any baby food (which I had read to try)- but the vet recommended we put warm water in her regular food and mash it up, and she ate that readily. We kept regular food in her cage, then fed her the mush throughout the day. As for Waardensburg - to quote "Ferrets For Dummies" (I *love* this book): "Waardensbug Syndrome is a ferret condition that genetically links the white fur on the head to deafness." The author goes on to say that "dark eyed whites, pandas, and shetlands/blazes are often prone to this deafness,... though this isn't always the case." As for the Marshall question I won't even touch that - I wouldn't have a clue. Hopefully someone out there knows. And as for all of you who have lost ferrets - I'm sorry to hear it. Your stories are wonderful though, and even though they make me sob sometimes (we have a 6 year old adrenal male who is slowly winding down), it really is a comfort to know that someone out there understands. Other large pet owners don't - they don't seem to understand that size is not directly proportional to the amount of love offered. Oh, and if I haven't gone on for too long... I'm very sorry to hear about the lady who lost her baby to the dishwasher. I've heard so many stories like that, we keep ours out of kitchen and bathroom, and no death chairs for us (this is *not*, I repeat *not* a flame, just a lead in to my question), I'm just wondering, are we too paranoid? My husband and I restrict our babies to a ferret proof (as much as that is possible anyway) living room. It's a big space, and there are lots of toys but.... And as for them sleeping with us - I would be terrified we'd squish them. Any opinions???? Mary Furmommy of Spawn, Freya, Trinity and Artemis [Posted in FML issue 3247]